US stocks plummet in volatile trading
Wall Street stocks fell sharply in volatile trading on Friday, with the Nasdaq confirming it is in a bear market, as concerns of slowing economic growth led investors to flee stocks in high-valuation sectors such as technology and communication services.
The major US stocks indexes accelerated declines in the last hour of trading after White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said the United States and China might not reach a trade deal at the close of a 90-day negotiating window unless Beijing can agree to a profound overhaul of its economic policies.
With Friday’s losses, the Nasdaq has fallen nearly 22 percent from its Aug. 29 high. The tech-heavy index dropped to its lowest level since August 2017.
The benchmark S&P 500 index, already on pace for its biggest percentage decline in December since the Great Depression, hit its lowest level since July 2017. It is now down 17.5 percent from its closing high on Sept. 20. The Dow Industrials fell to its lowest level since October 2017 and has declined 16.3 percent from its Oct. 3 closing high.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 414.23 points, or 1.81 percent, to 22,445.37, the S&P 500 lost 50.84 points, or 2.06 percent, to 2,416.58 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 195.41 points, or 2.99 percent, to 6,333.00.
For the week, the S&P 500 fell 7.05 percent, the Dow dropped 6.87 percent, and the Nasdaq declined 8.36 percent.
For the second day in a row, more than 2,600 New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq-listed stocks hit 52-week lows. The day before, nearly 3,000 stocks hit their low for the year, the most in any one day since October 2008.
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France stocks mixed
France stocks were mixed after the close on Friday, as gains in the Gas & Water, General Financial and Foods & Drugs sectors led shares higher while losses in the Technology, Industrials and Financials sectors led shares lower.
At the close in Paris, the CAC 40 added 0.04percent, while the SBF 120 index declined 0.02percent. The best performers of the session on the CAC 40 were Valeo SA, which rose 6.43percent or 1.51 points to trade at 24.98 at the close. Meanwhile, STMicroelectronics NV added 3.00percent or 0.350 points to end at 12.030 and Peugeot SA was up 2.56percent or 0.47 points to 18.60 in late trade.
The worst performers of the session were Schneider Electric SE, which fell 1.76percent or 1.04 points to trade at 58.06 at the close. Capgemini SE declined 1.49percent or 1.30 points to end at 86.00 and Safran SA was down 1.39percent or 1.45 points to 102.65. The top performers on the SBF 120 were DBV Technologies which rose 14.14percent to 8.800, Europcar Groupe SA which was up 8.21percent to settle at 7.38 and Valeo SA which gained 6.43percent to close at 24.98. The worst performers were Technicolor which was down 12.80percent to 0.906 in late trade, Genfit (PA:GNFT) which lost 7.08percent to settle at 16.280 and Alstom SA (PA:ALSO) which was down 4.36percent to 35.30 at the close. Falling stocks outnumbered advancing ones on the Paris Stock Exchange by 349 to 230 and 95 ended unchanged.
Shares in Capgemini SE (PA:CAPP) fell to 52-week lows; down 1.49percent or 1.30 to 86.00. Shares in Technicolor (PA:TCH) fell to all time lows; down 12.80percent or 0.133 to 0.906. Shares in Genfit (PA:GNFT) fell to 3-years lows; falling 7.08percent or 1.240 to 16.280. The CAC 40 VIX, which measures the implied volatility of CAC 40 options, was down 2.27percent to 20.54.
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India’s Sensex drops 690 points
Indian benchmark indices BSE Sense and NSE’s Nifty 50 fell nearly 2percent on Friday as a selloff in global markets continued for a second day after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates and signalled more rate hikes.
The Sensex slumped over 600 points dragged by heavyweights Infosys, Reliance Industries and HDFC. The Nifty 50 traded below the 10,800 level. All the sectoral indices traded in negative territory.
The Indian rupee fell below 70 a dollar and slumped 0.8percent. The BSE Sensex closed 689.60 points, or 1.89percent, down at 35,742.07, and the Nifty 50 ended 197.70 points, or 1.81percent, lower at 10,754. The BSE midcap and smallcap indices fell 1.79percent and 1percent, respectively. All the sectoral indices on BSE declined, with IT, teck, telecom and consumer durables fell over 2percent. On the Sensex, 28 stocks declined, while 3 stock rose. On the 50-share Nifty, 45 stock fell, and 5 stocks ended in positive territory. HPCL, BPCL, Coal India, NTPC and Power Gird were among major gainers on the key indices, whereas Wipro, Adani Ports, Indian Oil and UPL were among top gainers. In global markets, European shares opened in negative territory, following in the footsteps of US and Asian markets hit by the threat of a US government shutdown and of further hikes in US borrowing costs. Oil prices rose nearly 1percent, claiming back ground from a tumble of 5percent in the previous session, on signs that OPEC’s output cuts that start next month will be deeper than expected. Here are the latest updates from the markets.